Chapter 2

Dusty liked London immensely. It was bustling like any other city, but what made it different was the abundance of history littered all around. You couldn't walk down a road without tripping over some important landmark. It made everywhere seem so interesting and unique.

They were staying in a hotel on the outskirts of the city, which meant that each day they had to traverse the underground system to get to any of their destinations. This presented a problem for Ashley, who wasn't accustomed to public transportation.

"Dusty, where do we go?" she asked helplessly each morning after they'd planned their day out, handing the map of the underground to her friend while wearing a lost puppy expression.

"Okay, well, we're heading for Buckingham Palace," Dusty muttered as she surveyed the map.

"I do hope we get to see the Queen." Ashley clapped her hands together with excitement.

"So we want to get off here." Dusty pointed at a mark on the map, which meant nothing to Ashley. "Just follow me." Dusty smiled, enjoying her role of tour guide. It made her feel important, like an integral part of their adventure rather than just a spectator. Being surrounded by so many British accents was a complete novelty, especially for Ashley.

She had a fondness for British guys, citing that they were so well dressed and well-spoken that she couldn't resist them. A few times during their traversing of the underground system the girls were asked out for drinks, but they always

declined. "This vacation is a man-free zone," Ashley would inform them sternly as they sighed with disappointment. Even though the vacation was meant to be man-free, Dusty's mind was far from devoid of the opposite sex.

She kept thinking about Kyera, worrying about how she was doing back in America in the hospital, where she was being kept following her suicide attempt. She wondered if she was getting better and if she'd made the right decision in leaving her there.

"Stop thinking about her," Ashley would tut whenever she spotted Dusty gazing blankly ahead.

"I'm not," Dusty would lie.

"I know you too well, Dusty. Stop thinking about Aroura and focus on now. There will be plenty of time to see her when we're back." It helped that Ashley knew her so intimately that she could essentially protect Dusty from her own inner demons. But even Ashley didn't know about the other woman who haunted Dusty's thoughts. The woman who had written her a letter that she simply couldn't forget.

Valentine was back in West, teaching and apparently waiting for her. She had said that she'd wait for her forever. The romance of the declaration resonated within Dusty even though she tried to resist it. As much as she wanted to stop thinking about both Valentine and Kyera and focus on her vacation, she kept thinking about the letter and the promise to wait. It had admittedly blown her away.

The girls walked through a large green park as they made their way towards Buckingham Palace. They were now dressed for the weather, both in skinny jeans, boots and parka jackets. Even though they had hoods covering their heads, Ashley insisted on bringing an umbrella, which was proving difficult to maneuver on and off the busy underground train carriages.

"Do you really need the umbrella?" Dusty asked as they descended the stairs from yet another underground station.

"Brolly," Ashley corrected, loving learning all the local lingo.

"Fine, brolly, do you need it when we have our hoods?"

Ashley shrugged flippantly and looked at the umbrella she was carrying by her side.

"I think it gives us an air of mystery," she concluded. "There is something romantic about walking in the rain beneath a brolly."

"You're mad." Dusty shook her head in amusement.

"But you love me anyway." Ashley laughed, leaning against her friend's shoulder. In spite of the rain, the park was relatively busy, with clusters of fellow tourists collected under numerous umbrellas, the rain having refused to let up since their initial arrival in England.

As Dusty and Ashley drew closer to the edge of the park, they spotted some ornate golden gates, marking the end of the park, and beyond them stood the impressive architectural giant that is Buckingham Palace. "Ooh, look at these gates," Ashley cooed as they approached them.

"The Queen has got taste. Do you think it's real gold?"

"I doubt it."

Ashley placed a hand upon part of the gold detailing just to check. Walking through the gates, they crossed a road consisting of mainly black cabs and buses and found themselves standing at the front of the palace. Glancing up the mile-long road that led to the palace, there were numerous Union Jacks fluttering in the breeze.

Despite the backdrop of rain, it was a beautiful sight to behold.

Dusty rummaged in her rucksack for her digital camera, eager to take some pictures of the palace, aware of how much her mother would want to see them. The building itself wasn't that spectacular.

It was flat and square in shape, with windows all the same size and width, reminding Dusty of a Lego house. It was the trimmings which told of the royal inhabitants: the lustrous gates adorned with gold embellishments, the grand fountain beyond the driveway, where Queen Victoria sat at the helm, looking out upon London.

"There is so much history here," Dusty exhaled, impressed.

"It's all so... posh and classic," Ashley commented. Where she lived in Los Angeles, everything was new. Few buildings were older than fifty years, so it blew her mind to think that what she was currently looking at had stood there for hundreds of years. Dusty was busily taking pictures of the fountain, the statues, the gates and the palace itself.

Around here, countless people were doing the exact same thing. She was so lost to her picture taking that she almost forgot herself. Then she remembered the itinerary of the day and quickly checked her watch.

"What time are we booked to go on the London Eye?" she asked Ashley, who was nearby gazing through the gates at a uniformed guard.

"Is it true they don't move?" she asked, not hearing Dusty's question.

"What time are we going on the Eye?" Dusty asked again.

"Oh, half eleven." Dusty looked back at her watch in a slight panic. It was already eleven in the morning.

"We'd better go, Ash, as we've got to walk over there."

"Really? Okay." Ashley backed away from the gates, her face twisted with slight disappointment. "I'll go back there, right?" she asked as they now walked beneath the fluttering flags, steeling themselves against the continual rain.

"To the palace? Sure."

"I mean, I'll be living there one day." Ashley sighed.

"You will?" Dusty asked, bemused.

"Yes, when I marry one of the princes," Ashley said confidently.

"Ash, I think that only one of the princes is still available."

"Then he will do."

"Fair enough." Dusty laughed.

"As long as I get to be a princess, that's all I care about."

"Ashley, you already are a princess."